Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

On Our Radar: Smog Grounds Flights in Beijing

By The New York Times December 5, 2011 10:06 amDecember 5, 2011 10:06 am

Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesTravelers biding their time at Beijing International Airport on Monday.

Thick smog prompts officials to cancel hundreds of flights and shut down some major highways in Beijing. The American Embassy describes current air quality there as “hazardous,” and the official Xinhua news agency says the pollution is likely to reach “dangerous” levels. [Agence France-Presse]

At least 30 threatened bird species in Africa and Asia are completely dependent on small-scale human agriculture for survival, according to a study by University of East Anglia researchers. But some of this small-scale farming is now under threat itself as industrialized agriculture expands in places like central China. [BBC]

A series of sightings of rare wild cats, including a jaguar, in southern Arizona is stirring excitement among wildlife experts and amateur nationalists. [The New York Times]

Although climate change is expected to increase coastal flooding and cause water shortages, a new study by Britain’s Met Office sees an upside to global warming: farmers from Cornwall to the north of Scotland should benefit from longer growing seasons and fewer frosts. [The Guardian]

What's Next

About

How are climate change, scarcer resources, population growth and other challenges reshaping society? From science to business to politics to living, our reporters track the high-stakes pursuit of a greener globe in a dialogue with experts and readers.